First Solar Panels On White House

1979 carter installs first solar panels.

First solar panels on white house.

The first solar panels were placed on the white house more than 30 years earlier by jimmy carter and removed by the very next administration george w. In 1979 jimmy carter in a forward looking move installed solar panels in the roof of the white house. A system of 167 photovoltaic panels was placed on the roof of the central maintenance building. Now let s take a look back at the june 1979 solar panel installation at the white house.

The building didn t use solar panels. Instead solar was integrated into the rooftop. Solar energy at the white house. Much of carter s domestic policy focused on issues related to energy.

Chapin et al s solar energy converting apparatus patented february 5 1957 u s. Jimmy james carter the 39 th president of the united states was the first president to install solar panels on the white house and he used them to heat the water for the staff kitchen. Our staff is licensed and certified in all aspects of solar panel installation. Former president carter s decision was certainly a symbolic one as the solar panels were installed during the 1979 oil crisis.

Bush installed a system on the grounds but they weren t technically on the white house roof itself. In 1991 unity college an environmentally centered college in maine acquired the panels and later installed them on their cafeteria. All about president carter s energy policy. Those first solar panels in the white house were installed by our 39th president jimmy carter.